Well, having read so many books, I came across Ayn Rands most celebrated books in the name of Altas Shrugged and The FountainHead. I read the former twice and the latter once and still liked the latter. First I found the character John Galt very fictional and I could not believe anyone can exist with the ideologies of his. The second read changed me to quite an extent.
To, me the greatest blot on the face of mankind is his dependency on other mankind and this dependency i am referring is the emotional one. We are in one way or other beads of a chain but how we entangle among ourselves is quite different. We have been weaken by the terms like 'mercy' brought by the diffident, by the looters. For me its better to die rather than to live at anyone else's mercy.
There have been days when if anyone called me selfish I got hurt and its a matter of pride for me. This is just because I have started believing in myself and have learned the fact that survival has to be earned it cannot be begged or given as alms. Howard Roark said in Fountain Head "We live in our brains, existence is an attempt to bring that into physical reality" and I live by it and its my principle of living. I have got a different meaning of love, I am now very unashamed to call it a desire a feeling of triumph. Triumph of a body which is different than buying a prostitute for a night. A boon given upon us to continue existing.
I have been Eddie Willers for a long time, confused with how but not with who and whom. I have read Eddie with sympathy, he never knew how to do things but had clear idea that Dagny is right, Hank is right.
I loved Hank throughout the book and kept on envisaging how would Dagny Taggart look if she were to come to life. Never really got that image fixed. I do not lie, I cannot be John Galt and for that I wont try to be. I will be more than happy if I somewhere reached near to Hank. Ayn Rand says "My writing of this book is enough to prove that man like John Galt exist or can exist" and for this statement of her I have always been suspicious.
I was inspired by communist ideologies when I was in school or when I was in early years of college and then realized how communism is deteriorating everyone. How it is telling the lazy and dependents that they deserve what others have earned. My praises are always with those who work hard irrespective of what they do.
There are so many things in me and I keep asking if I fit in Objectivism.

Hi Sandip,

I'm glad I came across your post because this is the exact same experience I went through. I also read Atlas Shrugged twice and Fountainhead once, and always felt as if the character I identified with most was Eddie Willers. I think that's probably the point of reading those books. I think all objectivists start out as an Eddie Willers and little by little they reinforce their principles and their morality to become heroic, selfish individuals like Hank Rearden or Howard Roark. John Galt may not necessarily be a feasible human being, but never lose faith in yourself and what you are capable of achieving. All the potential for heroism exists within yourself and all you need is to maintain your confidence in finding it. Don't worry about what the book definition of "objectivist" might be. It is your job to interpret Ayn Rand in your own manner and use the tools to fortify your life as much as possible with it. None of us are perfect, but there is nothing wrong with striving for perfection.